Retail lending rate sharply decreased in the first quarter of 2012

The rate of disbursement of new retail loans has sharply dropped for the first two months of 2012: in February banks barely disbursed UAH 5.2 bn. compared to the average monthly UAH 7.1 bn. last year.

UAH 5.2 bn. retail loans issued in February prove to be even lower than in January (UAH 5.5 bn.). Both indices are over 1.5 times lower than in December (UAH 8.7 n.), but they are about 40% lower than the average monthly index of UAH 7.1 bn. for recent 12 months.

“Decreasing disbursement of retail loans in the early 2012 is mainly explained by two factors. First, it’s the seasonal impact observed every year: traditionally, consumer activity decreases in January, which is partially typical for February. Second, it’s an unexpected factor: in late January – early February, due to strong frost, many buyers and potential lenders postponed shopping and were sticking to a passive lifestyle,” Igor Durytskyi, KreditMarket Head, explains the origin of decrease, “Under normal circumstances one could reckon on UAH 5.7-6.0 bn. in February, however, as you can see, the result is much below this point. We haven’t had any statistics for March yet, but it’s supposed to be distinctively better than in February, according to our preliminary estimates.”

We remind that in January-February 2011 the disbursed retail consumer loans totalled UAH 4.8 bn. and UAH 5.4 bn., respectively, compared to UAH 7.7 bn. in December 2010. It means that the last year seasonal decrease was shorter and more localized.